Chapter 77: Was he drained and eaten by the mistress?

Li Yue'er could barely hold onto the lantern in her hand.

Before the mistress's hand could slip inside her jacket, Li Yue'er quickly placed the lantern beside the mistress's feet and wrapped her arms around the mistress's shoulders to prevent herself from sliding down her legs.

Although the New Year had passed, it was still very cold before the first month of the lunar calendar. Li Yue'er wore a beautiful and thick light pink and white outer garment, with a fitted and waist-cinching jacket underneath, and then an undergarment and a tube top.

Since following the mistress, Li Yue'er has even made her jacket more exquisite. The outer layer of the jacket is made of silk embroidered material, the middle is sewn with fresh cotton of the season, and the inner lining next to the inner garment is a layer of soft and warm fine wool.

Even a small piece of clothing costs tens of taels of silver, yet she owns several.

When the mistress gave Gamboge to her, she told her to wear it as much as she wanted, and if it got worn out or the soft fur became stiff, she could give it to a servant and have a new one made for her.

Such a fine thing shouldn't be treated like a tattered coat.

So even though the mistress said that, Li Yue'er still dressed carefully, and she was very careful to fasten the buttons when she fastened them in the morning.

But now, the mistress's hand unbuttoned her outer blouse and slipped inside along the hem of her inner jacket.

The jacket is fitted at the waist, and you can't touch what you want to touch without unbuttoning it.

The mistress kissed her lips incessantly, her fingers beginning to unbutton her clothes.

Li Yue'er's eyelids twitched, afraid that her mother would be too hasty and tear it. So she gently stroked her mother's shoulders, neck and face with both hands, and moved her lips away from her mother's mouth, instead kissing the corners of her eyes and forehead.

After calming down, the mistress used her fingertips to unfasten the buttons on her clothes, loosened the ties of her inner garment, and skillfully pulled off her bodice, placing her palms on it.

Li Yue'er's breathing became erratic. She placed her hands on her mistress's shoulders, lowered her eyes slightly, and lifted her face, letting her mistress's lips fall on her neck.

There must have been a mark, because I felt a slight stinging sensation in my collarbone area.

The mistress would never have left these things on her before.

Li Yue'er's heart trembled slightly. She lowered her eyes, kissed her forehead, and then cupped her face to kiss her lips.

The two were destined to miss their dinner on time.

Li Yue'er was carried horizontally to the bed by her mistress. She hugged her mistress's shoulder, and the two of them tumbled into the thick bed curtains and quilts.

The room wasn't cold because of the underfloor heating, and the bedding on the bed was soft and warm.

Since it was almost bedtime, the maids laid out the neatly folded sheets and blankets from the daytime so that their masters could get into bed easily.

But now, Li Yue'er sank into the quilt and twisted around a couple of times, wrinkling the peony flowers on the bright red quilt, making it look like a silk flower that had been trampled.

The mistress had placed a pillow under her waist, and now she raised her legs, draped the backs of her legs over the mistress's shoulders, and her toes tangled with the mistress's long hair.

She couldn't bring herself to say "I don't want it anymore." She had been craving her mistress's food for a while, and after a few days of vegetarianism, she just wanted her mistress to bully her badly.

Li Yue'er wondered if she was overthinking things. She noticed that since she returned to the academy after the Lantern Festival, although the mistress's attitude towards her was the same as before, her gaze always followed her.

Whenever she was in the same room as the mistress, even if they were both busy with their own things, the mistress would occasionally look up at her, not for any particular reason, but just to see what she was doing.

If she went out of the inner room and disappeared from sight, the mistress would call her twice to bring her back from the outer room, wishing she could stay within her sight.

Especially on the second night after the Lantern Festival, Li Yue'er sat on the soft couch, while the mistress sat on the bed. She had intended to finish reading the storybook in her hand before going to bed, since her book was also brought in from outside and was "unwashed," so it was not suitable for the mistress's bed.

To everyone's surprise, the mistress glanced at her a few times, held her "clean" book in one hand, and patted the bed with the other, gesturing for her to come up and look.

Li Yue'er was quite surprised and looked up to ask a question.

Her body is always cold, so there's no need for her to warm the bed. Or does the mistress have other instructions or requirements?

No matter how Li Yue'er looked at her, the mistress just kept her eyes down and didn't even glance at her. She only patted the empty bedding next to her with her palm until Li Yue'er tentatively climbed onto the bed and lay down next to the mistress, pressing her body against the mistress to read a book together on the bed. Only then did the mistress stop and withdraw her hand.

She wanted to be close to her.

She could even bring "unclean" books to her bed.

Li Yue'er understood this feeling very well; it was just like the time when the mistress specially used her connections to ask Doctor Fu to come to her house for a consultation, and she was in a hurry to go to the study to see the mistress.

It's sticky and gooey; I wish I could stick to her and never be apart.

Li Yue'er only realized her feelings later, and then she discovered that she actually liked the mistress very much back then.

And what about the mistress...?

Did the mistress herself realize it?

Li Yue'er curled her toes, bit her lower lip, and hummed softly. Tears welled up in her eyes, and her waist began to sway.

At this moment, she was like a fish caught in a net in a pond. At first, she was leisurely and ignorantly wriggling her tail. After realizing something was wrong, her tail started to swing slowly and then became urgent, and then she tried to break free and escape. As you can imagine, she could only be scooped up in a net.

Its tail flicked out of the water, then it fell heavily back into the pouch.

Li Yue'er's bottom rose and fell back down, like a fish landing back on the pillow.

Her eyes were blurred with tears, her mind was blank. Only after the afterglow slowly faded did she lower her eyes and let the tears roll down her cheeks and fall into the hair by her ears.

Her gaze shifted from the bed curtains to the mistress in front of her, and remained fixed.

As if he couldn't get enough of looking at her, he tilted his head slightly, lazily placed his hands on the quilt, and unconsciously twirled his hair with his fingers, calming his heavy, beating heart as he looked at his mistress.

The mistress, her face covered in water, with her long, wet eyelashes drooping, gently wiped herself with a handkerchief.

I sprayed it all over her face, and she didn't mind at all.

Li Yue'er reached out to her, pulled her over, hugged her, and pressed her down. She took a handkerchief and wiped her eyelashes, kissing each spot as she wiped them.

The mistress's breath was hot, one arm was around her waist, her palm resting on her lower back, and the other hand was placed in front of her, her fingers lightly pressing like a kitten.

I don't know who started it, but the fire started again.

Li Yue'er was originally whispering with the mistress about the lantern afterward.

“When I was little, my maternal grandfather made lanterns for me, some shaped like carp and some like rabbits,” Li Yue’er said, kissing her mistress’s eyelids.

Qu Rong's voice was slightly hoarse as she echoed, "Is that when you learned it?"

Li Yue'er frowned. "How could that be? I was only five years old then."

Qu Rong raised her eyes, "Then you..."

Li Yue'er's matter-of-fact attitude and tone, which sounded like she was smugly wagging her tail, were as she said, "Of course I'll sit on the side and watch."

Qu Rong, "..."

Five-year-old Li Yue'er was pampered by her whole family. At that time, she was still the apple of everyone's eye and had not yet experienced the hardships that would follow.

Qu Rong raised her hand and tucked a strand of hair behind Li Yue'er's ear.

Strangely, after Li Yue'er first climbed into her bed, she had Teng Huang inquire about every detail of her past, but at the time, she didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Later, when she knelt in the carriage, crying in confusion and despair, and her fingers tried to grasp her skirt but then let go, Qu Rong realized that she was truly pitiful and felt a little pity and heartache for her.

But who among the living in this world isn't pitiful?

Everyone else is suffering, so why is it that Li Yue'er is the only one who can't endure it?

But today, looking at that fair and delicate face, those bright and clear eyes like spring water, and those light pink lips like flowers, Qu Rong couldn't bear to see her suffer even the slightest grievance.

Not to mention the suffering of being harassed while washing clothes, even just frowning made her heart feel like it was tightening and contracting painfully.

Qu Rong traced Li Yue'er's eyebrows and eyes with her index finger, but what she said was, "Lazy."

Li Yue'er hummed softly. She admitted that she was lazy. When her maternal grandparents were alive, her mother was naive and inexperienced, and she was spoiled and lazy to the extreme. At the age of five, she still needed to be carried or held when she was tired from walking.

When she was little, she grew up riding on her maternal grandfather's shoulders. That upright and aloof gentleman was willing to bend down and happily carry her and her mother around the academy.

Seeing that Li Yue'er had lowered her eyes and stopped moving, Qu Rong paused, then gently pressed her palm against Li Yue'er's cheek to distract her, and continued to ask, "Then how did you learn to make lanterns? And make them so well?"

Mentioning this, Li Yue'er perked up, blinked twice, and said, "Of course, I learned it on the spot."

Qu Rong looked up at Li Yue'er, whose eyes were bright again. She said to her with her lips moving, "I learned it from a book, which is why it took me so long. Otherwise, I could have fixed it for you the day after I got back."

Qu Rong smiled and pinched her cheek, "It's not too late now, it's never too late."

Li Yue'er straddled her mistress's waist, and with just a slight tilt of her head, she could kiss her lips. "Good words deserve a reward~"

She gave a kiss.

It's rare to hear the mistress say something so kind.

Qu Rong glanced at her.

Li Yue'er chattered on and on with the mistress. After wiping her face clean, she didn't get up. Instead, she lay in the mistress's arms in that position and pressed down on her, saying, "I was originally worried that my little sister would be ostracized at the academy because she is introverted and shy."

Qu Rongqing gave a soft "Hmm?"

Li Yue'er puffed out her cheeks, "Now it seems like I was worrying about her for nothing. She just has too many friends, so she's picked up some random nonsense. She doesn't even know what they mean, but she just blurts out whatever I'm saying."

The phrase "payment with one's body" was something Li Yue'er truly hadn't expected, and she didn't know where Li Xing'er had heard it from.

Li Yue'er pondered for a moment, her tone filled with curiosity, "How did she make friends at the academy?"

After all, there were very few children the same age as Li Xing'er in the neighborhood, which meant that she had no close friends since she was a child and could only follow behind her like a little tail.

Li Yue'er couldn't imagine how her younger sister played with others.

Qu Rong's gaze swept across Li Yue'er's face, thinking that she should know.

Li Xing'er and Li Yue'er look extremely alike. When the two sisters stand in a crowd, their faces and the gentle, scholarly air they exude are enough to leave a deep and unforgettable impression.

She remembered Li Yue'er based on these two points when she first met her.

Moreover, the academy is the purest place, especially among the children. Li Xing'er doesn't have to do anything; she just stands there, and people come over, take her hand, and start a conversation with her.

I didn't want anything else, just to see the smile in her watery eyes, like sunlight shining on a spring lake, shimmering and sparkling, gentler and less dazzling than sunlight, warmer and more captivating than the lake's shimmering surface, making it impossible to look away.

Seeing her mistress smiling with her lips pursed, Li Yue'er stared at her suspiciously. Then, remembering something, she said to her, "And another thing, I was too busy that day and forgot to tell you in detail."

The day she returned, the mistress was sleeping. In the following days, the mistress was busy with the business in the market and would look at the account books before going to bed. Li Yue'er naturally wouldn't let these trivial matters distract her, so the two of them didn't have many opportunities to hug and chat like this in the past few days.

Qu Rong tilted her head to look, "Hmm?"

Li Yue'er laughed, "When Teng Huang came to pick me up that day, there were tire tracks all over the door."

Qu Rong, “?”

Qu Rong gasped silently, "!"

Li Yue'er said, "I thought Teng Huang was just bored and had come early in the morning to wait for me, so he was grinding grain at the door."

Qu Rong slowly turned her eyes away, her gaze shifting from Li Yue'er's face to the bed curtains above her head.

Li Yue'er said, "Teng Huang said she's not a donkey, how could she be so idle?"

Qu Rong, "..."

The weather is getting warmer; it's time to send Gamboge to the ward in Anping Prefecture to manage the accounts.

Li Yue'er cupped her mistress's face in her hands, drawing her gaze back to herself. Looking into her mistress's eyes, she said softly, "On such a cold day, during such a lively festival, how could that person linger at the academy gate all night, wandering aimlessly in circles..."

Qu Rong met Li Yue'er's eyes, her breath hitched slightly, her heart nearly leaped into her throat, and she was so nervous that her mind went blank.

Li Yue'er lowered her eyelashes and kissed the corner of her mouth, "I guess that person must have nowhere to go, which is why he lost his way at the entrance of the academy."

Qu Rong froze, staring intently at Li Yue'er.

She couldn't quite tell whether Li Yue'er had guessed something or heard something.

But Li Yue'er changed the subject, only mentioning the matter up to this point without revealing the truth.

She pressed her lips together as if they were sugar, and pried open her teeth with the tip of her tongue.

Qu Rong's breath trembled as she embraced Li Yue'er and deepened the kiss.

It might have started with her, or it might have been Li Yue'er.

The heat in my body hadn't subsided before another wave of heat ignited.

Qu Rong wanted to hold Li Yue'er tightly, wanting her to know that she was the one who wandered around in circles that night, but also afraid that she would know that she was the one who had nowhere to go that night.

But Qu Rong knew in her heart that no matter if the person outside the academy on the Lantern Festival was her or not, Li Yue'er would not laugh at that pitiful person who had nowhere to go at that time.

The scorching heat rolled down Li Yue'er's chest.

He held Li Yue'er's ankle with his wrist and lowered his head to kiss the inside of her calf.

Just as she was about to kiss the wet entrance, Li Yue'er pushed her away and instead sat on her waist with her back to her.

Qu Rong didn't quite understand what this position was at first, until Li Yue'er hugged her legs with both hands and lowered her head to kiss her other mouth.

Their lips met, and their faces overlapped.

When love is at its peak, they wish they could suck each other dry and squeeze each other into their own bodies.

Perhaps they were too compatible, or perhaps it was the tacit understanding that developed from repeated encounters, but they both got their faces dirty at almost the same time.

As her heart pounded, Li Yue'er and her mistress rolled over and lay face to face, head to toe, hugging each other's legs to catch their breath.

Li Yue'er recovered and mischievously bit her mistress's leg, "I'll smear you with my saliva again, so your bath will be for nothing."

Qu Rong, "..."

It's not like she can't wash it again.

She smiled and lightly tapped Li Yue'er's nose with her toe, asking in bewilderment, "Where did you put all your cleverness? How come you're so stupid now?"

Li Yue'er, "..."

Li Yue'er crawled from the mistress's feet back into her arms, her eyes crinkling, "Maybe the mistress just sucked all of us dry and ate us up."

She's saying those things again.

He was too busy talking to say anything earlier, but now that he has some free time, he's started teasing her with suggestive and frivolous talk.

Qu Rong covered Li Yue'er's mouth with a stern face, "Get out of bed, wash up, and eat."

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Moon: I've had enough water, it's time to eat something. [Huang Xin]

Mistress: ...

Oh dear, we've already had a meat feast to kick off the year! [Facepalm and peeking]